


I'm Okay (I Promise)

by famouslastwordsx



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Ghosts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 17:17:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/famouslastwordsx/pseuds/famouslastwordsx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank's "gift" allows him to see and talk to ghosts, and after Mikey's death, Mikey asks Frank to help Gerard move on. At first, Frank is unwilling, but he ends up getting closer to Gerard than he ever thought he would.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Okay (I Promise)

“Hey, Frank.”  
Frank looked up in surprise; he thought he was alone in the record store. It was past closing time, anyway. Frank had stayed behind to organize a new shipment that they had received earlier that afternoon. He was not only surprised, but confused, when he glanced up and saw Gerard Way’s little brother standing in front of him.  
“Uh, hi, um…”  
“Mikey.”  
“Mikey, right. How’d you get in here?” he questioned.  
As soon as the question was out of his mouth, Frank realized he knew the answer. Mikey Way was dead. Frank had long since accepted the fact that he could see and communicate with ghosts – he thought maybe the ability to do so had something to do with his being born on Halloween – and when Frank looked into Mikey’s eyes, he felt the familiar shiver that told him that he was talking to someone’s ghost.  
Mikey shrugged. “I’m dead.”  
“Yeah, I just realized that,” Frank sighed. Although Frank had never had a conversation with Mikey when he was alive, he felt a wave of remorse wash over him. Mikey had only been a freshman – much too young to die. “What happened?”  
“Actually, I’m not sure,” Mikey said, raising an eyebrow. “Is that normal?”  
Frank shrugged. “Sometimes. The fact that you know you’re dead is a good sign.”  
“Are you the only one who can see me?”  
“As far as I know, yeah. How’d you find me, anyway?”  
“I don’t really know. I just knew to come here.” Mikey paused. “I didn’t want to die, Frank.”  
Frank put down the album he had been holding while he talked to Mikey. “I don’t think most people really want to die.”  
“I know but – I’m angry at myself. For… for leaving him.” Mikey sounded like he wanted to cry.  
“Mikey, it’s not your fault. I’ll find out what happened to you, okay? Who are you upset for leaving?”  
“Gerard,” Mikey sniffled. “He’s going to be so mad at me.”  
Gerard and Frank were the same age, both seniors in high school. They weren’t friends; they belonged to two different worlds. Gerard Way was popular and well-known and absolutely gorgeous. Frank was sort of quiet and, well, weird. Even though it wasn’t common knowledge he could talk to dead people, it wasn’t too hard to realize that Frank was different from the other teenagers he went to school with. He had a lip ring and he was short and he wasn’t stunning like Gerard Way. Frank thought Mikey could’ve been stunning too, after he filled out a little bit. He and Gerard looked a lot alike; they had the same eyes. What a waste, he thought bitterly.  
“Gerard’s not going to be mad at you, Mikey. He’ll be sad, sure, but he won’t be upset with you,” Frank answered, trying to be comforting.  
“You don’t understand. Gee needs me,” Mikey shot back.  
“What do you mean?” Now Frank was interested.  
Mikey hesitated. “Gee’s got depression. Sometimes he resorts to alcohol and drugs and stuff to make him feel better, and I have to be there to help him when he isn’t feeling good so he doesn’t do any of that. And now that I’m not… I’m just – I’m just really fucking scared.”  
Frank was silent for a minute. Suddenly Mikey’s appearance and distraught state was making sense. “That’s why you’re here, right?”  
Mikey raised an eyebrow again. “What do you mean?”  
“You need me to watch out for Gerard,” Frank said, his voice emotionless.  
Mikey didn’t say anything for a moment. “Yeah,” he said, realization dawning on his young face, “yeah, I guess, that’s why I’m here.”  
Frank sighed loudly. “Look, Mikey, I’m really sorry about all this, and I wish there’s something I could do to help, really. But it’s just that Gerard and I don’t even really know each other and…”  
“Can’t you try?” Mikey’s eyes were swimming with tears. “Can’t you tell him I sent you? Can’t you tell him that I’m sorry?”  
“Mikey, no. You can’t just go up to someone and tell them you’ve been talking to their dead little brother and expect them not to freak out at you. It’d make him more upset,” Frank reasoned. Really, he just didn’t want to have to talk to Gerard at all.  
Mikey’s eyes flashed. “You don’t understand,” he said in a low voice. “I need you to do this for me. Please, Frank. You’re the only one who can help him now.”  
Frank looked at Mikey uneasily. “He’s going to think I’m a freak.”  
Mikey snorted. “Gee’s a fucking weirdo. You’re worried about not being cool enough for him? That’s so ridiculous!” He laughed softly.  
Frank closed his eyes. He couldn’t believe he was about to agree to this. “Fine, I’ll do it.”  
Mikey shot him a charming smile. “You’re the best. Now can we go find out how I died?”

 

Mikey followed Frank home, endlessly chattering about things he would miss and things he wouldn’t now that he was dead. He didn’t seem concerned about his parents at all; he biggest worry was Gerard. Frank learned that they had been very close and that Gerard was Mikey’s best friend.  
Frank’s mom was washing dishes when Frank got home. “Hi, honey!” she said, smiling at her only son. “How was your day?”  
“Long,” Frank replied truthfully. Linda didn’t ask any further questions, though; it was like she could sense that Frank didn’t want to talk about it.  
“The school called,” Linda said after a while. She looked up at Frank carefully. “You need to be in formal uniform tomorrow. There’s going to be a special mass.”  
Frank’s eyebrows knitted. “Why?”  
Linda sighed. “One of the freshmen passed away this afternoon. They didn’t say who it was; they just said it was a bad car accident. I’ve been watching the news but so far they haven’t said anything about it. You probably know him or her; it’s such a small school. I feel awful for that poor family, whoever it is.”  
“Car accident,” Mikey mumbled. “I remember now.”  
“That’s… that’s too bad. Let me know if anything comes on the news about it, okay?”  
Mrs. Iero nodded. “Of course.” Frank flashed her a smile and went to get started on his homework. Twenty minutes later, he heard her calling and he dashed down the stairs with Mikey right behind him.  
His mom was oblivious to Mikey’s presence while the three of them watched the TV in silence. Frank saw Mikey tense up from the corner of his eye.  
“I’m reporting live from the corner of Oak Street and Market Avenue, which was the scene of a fatal accident earlier today,” the reporter said into the camera. Yellow police tape laced the darkness behind her. “Don Way was driving his son Michael home from after picking him up at Belleville Catholic High School, where he was a freshman, when a drunk driver struck his vehicle on the passenger side. Mr. Way walked away without any injuries, but his son did not survive. He was Med-Flighted to Newark General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Michael would’ve been fifteen next month.” A recent picture of Mikey flashed on the screen; he was smiling coolly into the camera. The Mikey beside Frank gasped at seeing his own face on the news.  
“Isn’t that Gerard Way’s brother?” Linda asked Frank quietly. She didn’t even know Mikey, and she looked like she was going to cry. Frank gave her a one-armed hug and nodded.  
“Oh, this is so sad,” she said. “He was adorable, too.”  
Mikey laughed. “Tell her I said thanks!”  
“No,” Frank said. He had momentarily forgotten that his mother had no idea that Mikey was in the room with them.  
“What’s that, sweetie?” Linda asked.  
“I said, um, no because… Gerard’s much cuter,” Frank improvised and then closed his eyes.  
“I think they look a lot alike,” she mused, seemingly oblivious to Frank’s embarrassment. “Can you bring me down your dress shirt? I want to iron it tonight instead of tomorrow.”  
Frank complied and Mikey waited until they got to Frank’s room before he started talking. “They’ll make Gee go to school tomorrow, because they’re having a mass for me. You can talk to him then, right?”  
“I guess,” Frank said, fumbling around in his closet.  
“Cool! Thanks Frank, really. I know Gerard’s going to love you.”  
“Yeah, sure, I bet,” Frank replied sarcastically, but when he turned to face Mikey, he was already gone.

 

The mass for Mikey was emotional; there wasn’t a dry eye left in the place at the end. Even the seniors, most of whom didn’t know Mikey personally, were affected since he was Gerard’s brother. Most of the teachers cried, too; Frank couldn’t imagine why, since Mikey was only a freshman and most of the teachers here didn’t even know who he was before he died. Frank guessed it was the principle of the thing, kind of; it’s sad when a kid dies, whether you knew him or not.  
Gerard didn’t cry, though. He just sat there, staring, seven or eight people down from Frank. People kept going up to him and telling him that they were sorry or that Mikey was a great kid and things like that, he kept repeating the same response, over and over, in the same dead voice: “I know”.  
Mikey didn’t make an appearance the whole time. Frank sat in silence, wondering if he should give Gerard his condolences. When Gerard excused himself to go to the bathroom a few minutes later, Frank made the decision to follow him and make sure he was okay. He’d made a promise to Mikey.  
When Frank got to the bathroom, Gerard was sitting on the floor with silent tears running down his pale, pretty face. He didn’t acknowledge Frank’s presence, even after Frank sat next to him.  
“Are you okay?” Frank asked. He couldn’t help the fluttery feeling in his stomach; he was sitting too close to Gerard Way for comfort.  
Gerard swallowed loudly. After a moment, he shook his head, his lip trembling. “I’m not okay,” he answered. “My little brother’s dead. Please don’t tell me you’re sorry. Everyone’s sorry. I fucking get it. Everyone’s sorry, I’m sorry, there’s nothing anyone can fucking do because my baby brother’s gone and he’s not coming back.”  
Frank shook his head. “I wasn’t going to say I was sorry.”  
Gerard looked up at him in surprise. “You weren’t?”  
Frank tried to meet his gaze without trembling. “No.”  
“What are you doing, then?” Gerard looked confused.  
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, as okay as you can be right now. Mikey wouldn’t want you to be sad, Gee.”  
Gerard froze. “What did you call me?”  
Now that Frank thought of it, the only person he had ever heard call Gerard Gee was Mikey. Fuck. “Um, Gee.”  
“No one calls me Gee except for Mikey,” Gerard said hollowly.  
“I’m sorry,” Frank stuttered. “It’s just – you look more like a Gee than a Gerard, I guess.”  
Gerard was staring at him blankly. Frank didn’t know what to say. It figured that when Frank actually needed Mikey to be around, he didn’t show. “It’s okay,” Gerard said finally. “I don’t mind if you call me Gee.”  
“Okay,” Frank nodded. “Yeah, okay.”  
Gerard was still staring at him like he had no idea what was wrong with him. “Alright, well,” he said after a minute. “I’m going to go.” He stood up and wiped off his pants with his hands. He looked down at Frank and almost smiled. “Thanks,” he said quietly, and then left the bathroom, leaving Frank sitting alone on the floor and wondering where Mikey had gone off to.

 

“Did you talk to him?” Mikey asked, appearing in Frank’s room out of nowhere. Frank jumped and felt his heart skip a few beats in fear.  
“Yeah, I talked to him.”  
“And?”  
“And you didn’t tell him that only you call him Gee, so now he thinks I’m a freak.”  
Mikey’s eyes widened in amusement. “Oops.”  
“Yeah, ‘oops’. Where the fuck were you today, anyway?”  
“With my mom and dad. They were making funeral arrangements and stuff, so I thought I’d go and try to influence their decisions. I tried to tell them to play I Feel Like Dancin’ by All Time Low instead of the boring church songs, but I don’t think they heard me. Too bad,” Mikey shrugged. “Then I snuck into the morgue at Newark General and saw my own body. That was pretty cool. I’m wicked fucked up though, I didn’t even recognize myself at first!” Mikey laughed, but Frank didn’t think it was very funny.  
Frank sighed. “Gerard probably won’t be at school tomorrow or the next day, then. And I’m sure as hell not going to your house, even you have to admit that that would be pretty fucking weird.”  
“Yeah, that’s true. You’ll have to talk to him at the wake tomorrow then.”  
“Mikey, what do you want me to say? ‘Hey Gerard, your dead brother commissioned me to make sure you’re not suicidal or anything’?”  
Mikey’s eyes darkened. “Don’t fucking joke around like that.”  
“I’m sorry, Mikes, but seriously.”  
“Invite him over, then.”  
“Do you even know your brother?” Frank asked incredulously.  
“Do you?”  
With that, Mikey angrily disappeared, not to be seen for the rest of the night.

 

Frank adjusted his tie in the mirror. He couldn’t believe he was getting ready for Mikey Way’s fucking wake. He just hoped that the Ways had enough sense to make it a closed casket; Mikey had told him his body was in rough shape. Talking to the dead was one thing, because they looked like normal, breathing human beings, but bodies really fucking freaked him out.  
Linda opened Frank’s door slightly and peeked her head in. “Ready, honey?”  
“Uh huh,” Frank replied. He was surprised Mikey had shown up yet. Frank figured he was with his family, or maybe what he said yesterday had just really pissed the kid off. It wasn’t like Frank even really knew Gerard, but he knew him enough to know that they were in two different social classes and Gerard wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with Frank, unlike Mikey, who seemed to think that death sort of canceled out the whole popularity thing.  
Frank was right about one thing; Mikey had been with his family all day. When Frank stepped inside the funeral home, Mikey appeared at his side. “Frank, thank God you’re here,” he said, voice cracking. “Gee’s been drinking all day. I was right, Frank! You have to fix him!” Frank widened his eyes significantly at Mikey’s frantic form, hoping to communicate through his eyes that he couldn’t reply to him when he was in public or people would probably stare. Mikey stared at him with a puzzled look on his face before he exclaimed, “Oh! You can’t say anything back because it’ll look like you’re talking to yourself. You’ll talk to Gee though, right?”  
Frank nodded. He found Gerard standing with his family in front of Mikey’s casket; it was closed, and Frank silently thanked God. He tried to act more confident than he felt, but he was completely aware that he had hardly said a word to Gerard before his little brother’s ghost started pestering him to become his stupid fucking babysitter. Sometimes he really hated his “gift” if it could even be called that; most of the time he considered it somewhat of a curse. He waited until the woman talking to Gerard moved on, and then he walked up to him and smiled.  
“Hey, Gee.”  
“Hi, Frank.” His breath smelled like vodka; Mikey had been right.  
“Holding up okay?” Frank asked awkwardly.  
“Guess so.”  
“The vodka helps, right?” Frank blurted.  
Gerard looked at him with the same face Mikey made when he was confused. “Huh?”  
“I, uh, nothing.” A second into the conversation and Frank was already too nervous to make sense. It was just that even when he looked pale and tired and sad and sort of drunk he was still drop-dead gorgeous and it wasn’t fair of Mikey to expect Frank to be able to act normal around him when he could barely act normal around people who weren’t achingly beautiful.  
“How did you know I’ve been drinking?” Gerard said lowly.  
Frank almost said, “Mikey told me,” but he didn’t because that probably would’ve been catastrophic. Instead, he said, “I can smell it on your breath.”  
Gerard sighed. “Listen, I know we aren’t friends or anything like that, but please don’t tell anyone.”  
“I’d like to be friends,” Frank said, and then realized that sounded awkward. “What I mean is I’m here for you if you need anything. I know you’ve probably heard that a lot in the past few days, but I really mean it. I really know what you’re going through – trust me. I can help.”  
Gerard’s eyes searched Frank’s face, looking for insincerity. He seemed to be able to conclude that Frank was being genuine, because a ghost of a smile appeared on his perfect mouth and he nodded. “Thank you, Frank. I’ll keep that in mind.”  
“Good. I’ll give you my number, then. You can call me if you ever need anything,” Frank replied. Gerard pulled out an iPhone and added Frank to his contacts.  
“Cool,” Gee said, almost smiling again. “Thanks for coming, man. It’s really awesome to see the whole school here. Mikey would’ve been thrilled.” Gerard’s almost-smile disappeared when he seemed to remember again that Mikey was gone.  
Frank just grinned back. “You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”  
Gerard nodded. Frank walked away, feeling his cheeks flush. He had just had a full conversation with Gerard fucking Way – and given him his number – without making a complete fool of himself. Mikey would be happy that Frank had spoken to his brother and Frank would just have to deny that he was ridiculously excited that Gerard might call him.  
“Hey, Frank! How’d it go? I was going to listen in but one of those girls over there was confessing her undying love for me to her friends,” Mikey told Frank and pointed to a sobbing group of freshman girls.  
Frank laughed quietly. “It was fine. I gave him my number, in case he needs to talk or whatever. Do you think he’ll call?” Frank was so excited at his progress that he didn’t even care that it looked like he was talking to himself.  
Mikey smiled slyly. “I think he’ll call. I may have been eavesdropping on Alicia’s dramatic proclamation of love, but I saw the way he looked at you.”  
“The way he looked at me?” Frank said stupidly.  
“Yes, Frank. God, you’re retarded.”  
Mikey disappeared and appeared across the room by the group of crying teenage girls, where Frank couldn’t hunt him down for more information.

 

Frank didn’t go to Mikey’s funeral. He didn’t know Mikey well enough before he died to attend. Instead, he spent the day at school and then went to work as usual at the record store, but he was impatiently waiting for Mikey’s visit so he could question him about what he had said about Gee yesterday. Mikey had appeared briefly this morning, before his funeral, but that was during first period and Frank couldn’t start having a conversation with a ghost in the middle of history. Mikey had said into his ear, “After they bury me, am I going to disappear to? Like, once my body’s gone does that mean I am too, or do I have more time?” Frank wrote his answer on a piece of scrap paper: “No. You’ll have more time.” He realized he had never discussed the whole unfinished business thing to Mikey, and he needed to make it a priority. He had learned from helping other ghosts that you couldn’t actually move on to wherever you go after death until you got all your shit together from when you were alive. For Mikey to move on, Frank supposed, Gee had to prove that he was going to be okay.  
He wandered through the locked front door of the record store after closing time, just like he did on the day that he died. “Hey, Frankie. How’d that history test go?”  
“Fine. Have fun at your own funeral?” Frank asked, smirking.  
“Absolutely, it was a blast,” Mikey replied sarcastically. “I don’t know, dude. Gee’s a mess. As much as this ghosting thing is completely cool, I feel really fucking terrible for leaving like this.”  
Frank looked Mikey in the eye. “Mikey, none of this is your fault. Gerard’s going to be okay. I’m going to make sure of it.”  
“I thought you didn’t want to help. I thought it was only because I was making you,” Mikey said with a knowing smile.  
“Well, it is. But I just don’t think Gerard deserves to be sad. I’m doing it to help you though, in more ways than one. By being there for Gerard, I’m helping you move on from this in-between state that you’re in.”  
“What do you mean?” Mikey asked.  
“There’s stuff that comes after this. I don’t know what it is, because I’ve never been dead or anything, but from past experience from dealing with other dead people, I’ve learned that you have to tie all your lose ends and then you can move on to Heaven or whatever,” Frank explained to a surprised Mikey.  
“Oh. Oh, that’s pretty cool,” Mikey said. He sounded a bit like he was in awe.  
“Yeah, it is,” Frank shrugged. “So I need to help Gerard so that you can, you know, rest in peace.”  
Mikey burst into laughter. “Rest in peace?”  
“Yes!” Frank said, blushing.  
“Sorry,” Mikey said, composing himself. “I guess I’m just kind of in shock so everything’s funny. It’s a little hard to think that I won’t be able to see my family anymore.”  
“I know, Mikes. But I promise that things will be better. There are probably unicorns there.”  
Mikey’s laughter rang through the small store, even after he faded away.

 

At 2:17 that night, Frank’s phone started buzzing on his nightstand. He groped for it blindly and realized the call was from an unfamiliar number.  
“Hello?” he said groggily.  
“Frank.” Gerard.  
“Hi, Gee. What’s up?” Frank said, as if his heart wasn’t beating out of his chest.  
“I – I need to talk,” Gerard said. His voice sounded tight.  
“Let’s talk then.” Frank didn’t care that it was 2 AM.  
“Can you come over?”  
“Uh…”  
“No, I’m being stupid. It’s late. Never mind. Forget I called.”  
“No! Gee, that’s not it. I’ll come over. I don’t care that it’s late.”  
“Are you… are you sure?”  
“Yeah. Give me the directions to your house.”  
Gerard gave Frank his address and Frank told him he’d be there in ten minutes. He tried not to think about how crazy he was for sneaking out at two in the morning on a school night, or how excited he was to do so. He stood up and pulled on the first pair of jeans he could find. He wasn’t surprised to find Mikey standing in the door way.  
“I hope you’re happy,” Frank said tiredly.  
Mikey said nothing and followed Frank to the car.

 

When Frank pulled in front of the Ways’ house, which was massive and meticulously kept up, Gerard was sitting on the front steps smoking a cigarette. “At least it’s not weed,” Mikey sighed. Frank nodded and then told him to be quiet.  
“Hi, Gee,” he said as he approached.  
“Hi, Frank,” Gerard said miserably. “Follow me.”  
Frank and Mikey followed Gerard silently down to the basement, to where his room was. There were pictures and sketches and empty boxes of cigarettes and bottles of alcohol strewn about on the floor. “Ew, Gerard,” Mikey whispered half-heartedly, even though he didn’t need to be quiet since only Frank could hear him.  
“I don’t know why I called you,” Gerard admitted. “I just felt like I had to.”  
“I’m glad you did. It’s better to talk about it.”  
“I don’t want to talk,” Gerard said softly before pressing his lips to Frank’s. Frank’s eyes widened in shock, and at first he didn’t kiss back. Then Mikey wolf-whistled and Frank closed his eyes, leaning into Gerard. Gee’s lips were soft and Frank was sure he tasted tears running into his mouth.  
Gerard broke away suddenly. “I’m sorry,” he said abruptly.  
“Don’t be!” Frank said quickly. “Don’t be sorry.”  
Gerard closed his eyes. “I don’t know what it is, Frank. Maybe it’s the way that you just seem to actually care or maybe it’s the lip ring, I don’t really know. I just feel like you’re the type of person that Mikey would’ve wanted me to be with.”  
Mikey was smiling and nodding. “He’s right,” he told Frank.  
“I just can’t accept the fact that he’s gone. He was my best friend. I needed him, because he kept me out of trouble and he always knew the right thing to say.”  
Mikey laughed. “Right again!”  
“Mikey’s really fucking proud of you,” Frank said before he could stop himself.  
Gerard met Frank’s stare. “He has no reason to be.”  
“Gee, yes, he does. You don’t need him like you thought you did. You called me, right? You knew what you needed to do for yourself. You don’t need Mikey to tell you how to take care of yourself.”  
Gerard shook his head. “I just wish he was here.”  
“I know you do. But Mikey’s going to move on and be in fucking Heaven, where there’s lots of music and food and hot girls to keep him company,” Frank said happily.  
“I really like you,” Gerard said softly.  
“I really like you, too,” Frank admitted.  
“I knew it,” Mikey said excitedly.  
This time, Frank was the one to press his lips to Gerard’s. “Whoa,” Mikey said suddenly. “I feel really fucking weird. Frank, I think I’m doing that moving on this you were talking about earlier. I just want to thank you for everything. I guess since it’s time for me to leave it means that Gee’s going to be okay, so thank you. Maybe one day you’ll tell him that I was here, or maybe not. You’ll be able to tell if he needs to know, I think. Do you promise that he’s going to be okay?”  
“We’re going to be okay,” Frank said against Gerard’s lips. Gerard nodded in agreement and said, “Yeah. We are.”  
Mikey seemed satisfied with that. “Okay, I’m leaving now,” he laughed. “I really hope you were right about the unicorns.”  
Frank giggled and Gerard pushed away, smiling. “What’s so funny?”  
Frank shook his head. “Nothing. Maybe I’ll tell you later.”  
Before Gerard could reply, Frank pulled him close and kissed him again, knowing that everything was going to be perfect.

The End


End file.
